Daewoo Nubira (1999)

No, that's not a typo. The company really is called "Daewoo." And justwho is Daewoo? Well, it turns out that this company has been making carsin South Korea for a number of years. How many? Well, the truth is, wecouldn't find out...because the only phone number we could find for Dae Woohad an answering machine on it--and nobody returned our call.

The Nubira is a wagon, about the same size as a Toyota Corolla. It has afour-cylinder engine, which provides more than enough power. With all thebells and whistles, including leather interior, this car still retails foronly $14,160.

We drove the Nubira through a blinding rainstorm on Cape Cod, and ithandled admirably.

We were very impressed with its car. Given its very low price, we werepleasantly surprised to see that it did not appear to be your typicallow-end piece of junk. Given the $14,000 price tag, we'd definitelyrecommend this car (assuming one of the four Daewoo dealerships in theUnited States happens to be in your town.) For that price, even if itbreaks down every now and then, you've still gotten a great deal.

There was one fact that gave us reason for concern with this car, however.The U.S. government-mandated sticker listing the percentages of the carmade in various countries, was as follows:

15% Australian (the Nubira engines are made in Australia)15% North American content65% Asian content

The reliability of the Nubira, and of all the 1999 Daewoo automobiles,remains to be seen. However, our first impression of this car was verypositive. And when compared with the Kias (Kia, by the way, is the otherKorean manufacturer trying to make a go of it in the United States) we'vedriven to date, the Daewoo seems to be the Korean car of choice.